Thursday, July 04, 2013 1:51:04 AMThat was the sad loss of the last 3 satellites of the new GLONASS constellation. (Global Navigation Satellite System). This is the Russian equivalent of US sat-nav and the EU Galileo GNSS. (Global Navigation Satellite System. It appears that the Proton Launch vehicle has a poor reliability record.

Von Braun is an interesting case. Didn't he employ concentration camp labor in some of his rocket factories? If the U.S. wasn't so interested in rocketry at the close of WW2, it's a safe bet he would have been swinging at the end of a rope.

Wednesday, July 03, 2013 10:56:58 PM@S4S Don't forget the Apollo 1 crew. My dad worked on the space program in the 60s. He warned them that using a pure oxygen atmosphere in the capsule was a disaster waiting to happen. Werner von Braun was there and told them that because my dad was merely a battery engineer (he designed the batteries that saved the lives of the Apollo 13 crew) he didn't know what he was talking about. A few weeks later, one tiny spark instantly set the whole cabin on fire killing all three astronauts on board.

Werner von Braun was brilliant, but he was also an insufferable, arrogant prick. He was dead wrong, and my dad was right. As far as I'm concerned, von Braun was personally responsible for the deaths of Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee. I hope he's burning in the same hell he created for them.

Wednesday, July 03, 2013 9:58:17 PM@ OldOllie: Agreed 100%. Not to mention that our own space program wasn't without its mishaps. We lost a total of 14 astronauts in the shuttles. (Since you're an old guy like me, I'm certain you know that; I recount that fact more for the benefit of the young whippersnappers out there who weren't even born when Challenger blew up.)

Wednesday, July 03, 2013 4:22:48 PMthats nuts! when it hit the ground i thought damn there's gonna be a loud bang in a few seconds, got worried that there wasn't gonna be, but i was reassured only a second or two later!